York County

See general law fishing provisions.

Exceptions below - Special Rules (S-Codes) are listed at the bottom of this page.

Unless otherwise listed below, the daily bag limit on brook trout is 2 fish on lakes and ponds.

County-Wide Specials:

Lakes and ponds are open to open water fishing from April 1 to December 31; all trout, landlocked salmon, and togue caught from October 1 to December 31 must be released alive at once. These waters may have additional special regulations, which have been retained - check individual water listing for special regulation.

See Border Waters with New Hampshire.

Balch and Stump Ponds, Newfield. S-9.

Barker (Parker) Pond, Lyman. S-13.

Boulter Pond, York. Closed to all fishing.

Chases Pond, York. Closed to all fishing.

Cold Water Brook Pond, Kennebunk. S-4, S-24. Closed to the taking of live bait.

Cox Pond, South Berwick. Motorboats with more than 10 horsepower prohibited.

Davis Brook, Shapleigh. From the Mann road downsteam to the confluence with the Little Ossipee River: From April 1 to October 31: S-6, all trout caught must be released alive at once.

Ell (L) Pond, Wells, etc. S-4, S-13. Motorboats over 6 horsepower prohibited.

Folly Pond, York. Closed to all fishing.

Great East Lake, Acton. S-9.

Great East Lake tributaries. S-1.

Great Works River, South Berwick, North Berwick. From Route 9 downstream to the confluence with Salmon Falls River: From October 1 to March 31: S-6; all fish caught must be released at once.

Horn Pond, Acton. S-9.

Horne Pond, Limington. S-3.

Kennebunk Plains Pond, Kennebunk. S-4.

Lake Arrowhead (Ossipee Flowage, Ledgemere Pond), Limerick and Waterboro.

From April 1 to June 30: all bass caught must be immediately released.
From July 1 to December 31: Daily bag limit on bass: 1 fish, all bass between 16 and 20 inches must be released alive at once.

Leavitt Brook, Limerick. From the F.R. Carroll facility access road (Enterprise Road) to the first downstream dam: S-11, S-13.

Little River, Berwick. April 1 to October 31: From Messenger’s Bridge on the Long Swamp Road downstream to the Hubbard Road: S-6, all trout caught must be released alive at once.

Lone Pond, Waterboro. S-6.

Long Pond, Parsonsfield. S-2, S-3, except the area approximately 4,000 feet as designated by red markers on the southeast shore of the lake including the outlet (Brown Brook) and the tributary from West Pond.

Merriland River, Kennebunk. From the northbound lane bridge of the Maine Turnpike to the upstream side of the Route1 bridge: open to fishing from April 1 to October 31: S-6, S-19.

Middle Pond, York. Closed to all fishing.

Milton Watershed. S-9.

Moose Pond, Acton. S-13.

Mousam Lake, Acton, Shapleigh. S-2, S-3.

Mousam River, from Acton to Kennbunk. Open to open water fishing from January 1 to December 31. From the dam immediately upstream of Route 1 to tidewater: Minimum length limit on brown trout and rainbow trout is 14 inches.

Murdock Pond, Berwick. S-13. Ogunquit River, Wells. From the northbound lane bridge of the Maine Turnpike to the upstream side of the Route 1 bridge: open to fishing from April 1 to October 31: S-6, S-19.

Ossipee Lake, Little, Waterboro. S-2, S-3.

Ossipee River. (See Oxford County).

Ossipee River, Little, Newfield and Shapleigh. From the stone dam immediately above Route 11 in North Shapleigh downstream to Bridge Street in Newfield: From April 1 to October 31: S-6, all trout caught must be released alive at once.

Province Lake, Parsonsfield. S-9.

Round Pond, Lyman. S-6. Exception: Children under the age of 16 may fish under S-4.

Saco River.

From the Maine/New Hampshire border in Fryeburg to Cataract Dam in Saco: open to open water fishing from January 1 to December 31. S-19.
From Skelton Dam to Cataract Dam, maximum length limit on landlocked salmon and brown trout: 25 inches. Danger: Rapidly rising water levels associated with river dam operations could pose a danger to fisherman.

Salmon Falls River, Acton. S-9.

Sand Pond, Sanford. Motorboats over 10 horsepower prohibited.

Sand Pond, Limington. Motorboats prohibited.

Scituate Pond, York. Motorboats with internal combustion engines prohibited.

Spaulding Pond, Lebanon. S-9.

Spicer Pond, Shapleigh. S-6. Opens May 1. Closed to the taking of live bait. Motorboats prohibited.

Warren Pond, South Berwick. S-6, S-24.

Wedgewood (Pendexter) Brook, Parsonsfield, Cornish. From Rt. 25 downsteam to the confluence with the Ossipee River: closed to all fishing.

Wilcox Pond, Biddeford. S-11.

Wilson Lake, Acton. S-3.

York Pond, Eliot. Motorboats with internal combustion engines prohibited.

Special Regulations (S-Codes)

Waters that have exceptions to the general law are listed by county. In most cases, the exception will be one of the codes listed below and may affect only a portion of the regulations that govern that particular body of water, i.e. only the bag limit on salmon is different from the general law in which case it would read as follows: Smith Pond, Anytown. S-22. All other provisions of general law would apply.

S-1: Closed to the taking of smelts.

S-2: Closed to the taking of smelts, except by hook and line.

S-3: Tributaries closed to the taking of smelts.

S-4: Use or possession of live fish as bait is prohibited. (The use of dead fish, salmon eggs, worms are permitted.

S-5: Fly fishing only.

S-6: Artificial lures only.

S-7: Boundary waters with New Brunswick.

S-8: All trout less than 6 inches and longer than 12 inches must be released alive at once.

S-9: Border waters with New Hampshire.

S-10: Daily bag limit on togue: 1 fish.

S-11: Fishing restricted to persons under 16years of age; daily bag limit on trout: 2 fish.

S-12: No longer used.

S-13: No size or bag limit on bass.

S-14: No bag limit on pickerel. From July 1-September 30, artificial lures only and minimum length limit on trout: 8 inches.

S-15: Daily bag limit on togue: 3 fish; minimum length limit on togue: 14 inches, only one may exceed 18 inches.

S-16: Daily bag limit on trout: 2 fish; minimum length limit: 12 inches, only 1 may exceed 14 inches.

S-17: Daily bag limit on trout: 2 fish; minimum length limit: 10 inches, only 1 may exceed 12 inches.

S-18: Daily bag limit on trout: 1 fish, minimum length limit 18 inches.

S-19: Daily bag limit on trout: 2 fish.

S-20: Daily bag limit on white perch: 25 fish.

S-21: Daily bag limit on trout: 1 fish, minimum length limit 14 inches.

S-22: Daily bag limit on salmon: 1 fish.

S-23: No longer used.

S-24: Extended Season - Remains open to fishing from October 1 - December 31; artificial lures only; all trout, salmon, and togue must be released alive at once.

S-25: Daily bag limit on bass: 2 fish; all bass between 13 and 18 inches must be released alive at once.

S-26: Indian Territory Regulations.

S-27: All fish caught must be released alive at once.

S-28: Togue do not count towards the 5 trout and salmon, in combination, daily aggregate bag limit.